At the Newton Room in Inverness, Scotland, Newton Teacher Tim Ashwell brings science to life with passion, creativity, and a touch of theatre.
Name: Tim Ashwell
Age: 48
Has been a part of Newton: For 3 years
Professional Background: Primary Teacher/chef/actor/playwright
Newton Room: Newton Inverness
Life Outside of Work: As a dad, I don’t have much time to myself, but if I do, I love rock climbing and playing my uke.
Science Skills Academy runs four Newton Rooms in the Highlands and Islands area of Scotland. Here is the room in Inverness. All photos: Science Skills academy
What sparked your interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) in the first place?
“I grew up watching Johnny Ball in Think of a Number and Johnny Ball Reveals All. I’d also watch the Royal Institution Christmas lectures. I loved the demonstrations and the theatricality of it all, which is something I’ve tried to bring into my Newton room. My own first experience was at school, describing the changing seasons with a beach ball and a torch strapped to my head.”
What do you love most about working in a Newton Room?
“It combines all of my interests and skills I’ve been developing. I enjoy reading, learning and talking about science, and I think having a drama background helps me build a rapport with the children. I love that every day is different; one day we’ll be building circuits and the next we’ll be dissecting lungs. The enthusiasm and curiosity of the children are infectious, and I hope they enjoy it as much as I do.”
Newton Inverness is a full-time facility, based at the An Lòchran building on Inverness Campus, and offers seven education modules.
What’s your favourite topic or module to teach, and why?
“I’m a big space nerd, so I’ve been championing the Scottish space sector in our space module. It’s such an exciting topic, and it’s constantly evolving with discoveries and new missions. I try to keep up with all the current news and relay that back to my learners.”
What do you hope students and teachers take away from their visit to your Newton Room?
“I hope that they come away thinking STEM can be fun and creative. I also hope it sparks their curiosity and they realise that STEM subjects are for everybody.”
Can you share a fun or inspiring story that’s happened in your Newton Room?
“I had a small class last year that didn’t speak a word of English. We bonded over engineering problem-solving and firing rockets.”
How can we best inspire children and young people to pursue STEM education and careers?
“We aspire to inclusivity, so if we can break down the barriers to learning and make STEM engaging and relevant to everyone, then we are on the right track.”
If you could meet one famous scientist, past or present, who would it be and why?
“Richard Feynman. I think he was the master science communicator. If I had even a fraction of his knowledge, enthusiasm and curiosity, I would be very happy.”
What are three things on your bucket list?
Science Skills Academy – Highland
With thousands of high-quality jobs on the horizon in biosciences, digital skills, renewable energy and the space sector, the Science Skills Academy (SSA) is here to spark the interest of young people and ensure equal access to STEM provision for all schools across Highland.
Like Norway, the Highlands and Islands have a disparate population, meaning that young people can miss out on opportunities purely because of where they live. At SSA it is their aim is to engage with every P6–S2 pupil in the 196 schools across the Highland region every year. In doing so, they hope to inspire young people and encourage them to consider their STEM future in Highland.
SSA is a multi-partnership project led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), and funded through the Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal.
About Science Skills Academy
Science Skills Academy opened the first Highland Newton Room in 2019. They now have 4 state-of-the-art Newton Rooms across the region in Thurso, Dingwall, Fort William and Inverness. SSA also have a touring Pop-Up Newton Room to bring STEM to their most rural Highland communities.
Since the beginning of the project, Science Skills Academy has engaged with over 40,000 people through their work with schools, community and family audiences. SSA have fast become a staple in the Highlands and Islands STEM landscape, partnering with industry, local government and other STEM providers to provide a strategic approach to STEM provision in the region.
HIE has worked with the National Space centre on the «Our World for Space programme» run by the ASDC (Association for Science and Discovery Centres). Here is Tim Ashwell together with Pete Wesson, David Wilkinson, Charlotte Jones, Nat Tunnicliffe, and Ewan McMillan from the National Space Centre. Together they completed a rocket workshop with senior phase pupils at Inverness Campus. Photo Credit: Gillian Frampton/HIE
